Russia Takes Credit for Iraqi Crisis Resolution

Russian officials, including President Boris Yeltsin, took credit for helping to resolve the Iraqi crisis, after weeks of insisting on a diplomatic solution. Yeltsin and foreign ministry officials hailed the 11th-hour deal between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a success for Russian policy, with Yeltsin proudly declaring that the crisis is "practically resolved" already. However, analysts note that Russia's influence in the region is still limited, and the game is not over yet.

Key Takeaways:

• Russian officials took credit for helping to resolve the Iraqi crisis, with President Yeltsin declaring that the crisis is "practically resolved" already.
• The deal between Saddam Hussein and Kofi Annan was made possible by Russia's insistence that the U.N. Security Council send Annan to negotiate directly with Saddam.
• Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov played a key role in pushing for a diplomatic solution, arguing almost daily in favor of more diplomacy.
• Primakov saw the crisis as an opportunity for Moscow to reassert its influence in the world and to win points domestically by tapping into Russia's growing anti-American sentiment.
• However, analysts note that Russia's insistence on diplomacy was not solely responsible for the crisis resolution, and the U.S. threat of force also played a significant role.
• The Russian envoy to Baghdad was less successful in negotiating with Saddam than in November 1997, when he intervened to get Saddam to back down and readmit U.N. weapons inspectors.

Statistics:

• 11th-hour deal between Saddam Hussein and Kofi Annan
• Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov made daily arguments in favor of more diplomacy for weeks
• 1 month spent by the Russian envoy in Baghdad without clinching an agreement
• U.N. Security Council agreement to send Kofi Annan to negotiate directly with Saddam, after weeks of Russian insistence
• Russia's anti-American sentiment, which Primakov tapped into to gain domestic support

Sources:

• "Russia Takes Credit for Iraqi Crisis Resolution" by Moscow correspondent, dated no date ( implicit meaning Monday of that week)
• Boris Yeltsin, "From the very beginning, we were for a diplomatic solution,"
• Kofi Annan,
• Andrei Kortunov, Moscow political analyst,
• Konstantin Eggert, foreign affairs specialist, on Russian daily newspaper Izvestia, on one point the Russian envoy spent a month in Baghdad without clinching anything